Characteristics of the soil seed bank under different disturbance intensities in an arid mining area

Soil seed banks are an important factor that can affect vegetation restoration in mining areas, and their characteristics reflect the vegetation restoration potential of the region to a certain extent. In this study, the relationship between the soil seed bank and its surface vegetation under three different disturbance conditions in the Wuhai Xinxing coal mine area was analyzed using sample site investigation and indoor germination techniques. The results show that 1) Species are scarce in the study area. There are a total of 18 plant species belonging to 7 families and 16 genera. The species life forms are mainly perennial herbs. 2) The average soil seed bank reserve in the Xinxing mining area is relatively small (226.51～739.17 seed·m⁻²) and shows a decreasing trend as the soil depth increases. More than 90% of the seeds are stored in the surface soil (0 − 10 cm). 3) The plants in the soil seed bank across the study area have few species in common with above-ground vegetation in the same area and the plant community similarity between the soil seed bank and the above-ground vegetation is low. 4) When the disturbance intensity increased, the vegetation restoration potential of the seed bank rose at first and then decreased. The natural vegetation area around the road with moderate disturbance developed in a favorable direction, while the natural vegetation area around the mining area with severe interference was strongly negatively affected, its diversity and similarity with other district communities were small, and the seed density significantly decreased (P < 0.05).